19 reasons not to stay at a hostel

Why would anyone choose to stay at a hostel? Practically everything in the facility is shared among visitors, you don’t have any personal space, it gets noisy, and are your belongings even safe?

Despite the fact I’ve written a post about why not to choose a hostel, the truth is that I actually enjoy them a lot. The cons are truly not as inconvenient as I write them out to be, and the crappy reasons are a huge part of what make hostel stays fun times. I actually started a list about reasons to stay at hostels, thought it would be interesting to draft a list for the opposite side, and came up with more items for the con list.

3. Dorm mates that climb onto the top bunk and cause relentless squeaking because they’re assigned that bed

4. Dorm mates that come into the room after a night of hard partying and come in making noises and/or turning the lights on, resulting in poor sleep quality for you (although this can be easily remedied with an eye mask and ear plugs)

5. Free WiFi that causes people to sit in corners on their laptops, tablets, and/or cell phones instead of actually socializing with fellow hostelers

6. Old and dirty linens

7. Having to pay for towels (sometimes)

8. Really thin, not soundproof walls between rooms

9. Floors that haven’t been swept in so long that the dust has become hard (and gross)

10. Roommates who snore

11. Roommates who sleep talk

12. Roommates whose stomachs growl and make all sorts of weird noises at night because they didn’t eat enough

13. Roommates who fart

14. Roommates with smelly feet

15. Roommates with body odor

16. The guilt and awkwardness that comes when checking into the room at a time when all your dorm mates are in bed. When your flight/train/bus has come in late at night and you can’t help but make noise (that cannot be softened) by opening the door, dragging your roller bag insdie, unintentionally clanking the locker doors open and closed when placing your belongings inside, and causing the bunk bed to squeak when you climb up the stairs.

16a. Being assigned the top bunk because you checked in later and everyone else before you has already chosen the lower bunk.

17. Hostelers who check in late while you’re already sleeping and don’t give a shit about the noisy ruckus they cause while putting their stuff away while the sun is already on the other side of the planet.

18. Cellphones that go off (ring, alarm, etc.) too early in the morning because the owners forgot to silence them.